Press release
Sienna IM announces the launch of a private credit corporate financing strategy focused on European defence-related SMEs and mid caps.
Paris, March 14th 2025 – In response to the current geopolitical backdrop calling for a massive financing effort in support of European sovereignty, Sienna Investment Managers (Sienna IM) announces the launch of a European private credit financing strategy, Sienna Hephaistos[1], in reference to Hephaestus, the Greek god of blacksmiths. This strategy and its corresponding fund vehicle will support European SMEs and Mid-caps in the defence sector. It aims to raise between €500 million and €1 billion from investors chiefly in Europe. This new strategy benefits from Sienna IM’s longstanding experience in financing Europe’s mid-market companies.
In the context of a challenging, fragmented supply chain structure, suppliers to Europe’s major industrial groups are facing increased financing needs in order to keep up with the recent uptick in production. Sienna IM provides a secure source of financing tailored to the specific needs of defence SMEs and Mid-caps, such as modernising their production lines and accelerating their production, as well as funding external or organic growth projects, with a strong focus on France, Italy, and Germany.
Classified as Article 8 under the SFDR regulation, the Sienna Hephaistos private credit financing strategy will include incentives for borrowers linked to pre-defined sustainable KPIs. It will not support activities prohibited by international treaties signed by France and Italy. Sienna IM’s experienced investment management team is actively working on identifying projects to enable the rapid deployment of this strategy.
As such, Sienna IM offers institutional investors a reliable and impactful access to a diversified private credit portfolio made of secured financing, granted to companies that are essential to the implementation of defence programmes, which are set to grow substantially over the coming years.
Laurent Dubois, Managing Director – Private Credit, Sienna IM: “In anticipation of important regulatory or legislative decisions, it is crucial to unite both public and private financial actors for the benefit of security and peace in Europe. Sienna Hephaistos serves as an impactful bridge between, on the one hand, investors conscious of the acute challenges facing Europe and, on the other, industrial SMEs and Mid-caps in the defence sector that are experiencing a sustainable increase in their order books. Our team is already hard at work with our valued investors’ support to promote and protect Europe’s sovereignty”.
[1] creation of a fund in the form of a RAIF SICAV incorporated in Luxembourg and managed by Sienna AM France on a delegated basis; Managed by Sienna AM France, an AMF-approved management company n°GP97118, a member of the Sienna IM group
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